Last of a Dying Race
by ForgottenKaze
Summary: [AU] When Anzen Village was destroyed, Ai, Asagi, Roku, Dai, Shion, Moegi and Shiori lost all they knew. However, they might be an important part in the battle against Naraku... new sum, rewritten
1. Chapter 1

Last of a Dying Race

By ForgottenKaze

Okay, I said before I'd re-write this story, so here it is! Last of a Dying Race, version 2!

A strange story I thought up when I was trying to remember the theme song of Wolf's Rain… I thought it would make a good IY fic. It's also my attempt to do a long AU story. It takes place sometime between 2008 and 2010.

Oh, and there might be spoilers for the later manga. I'm not sure.

**I DON'T own InuYasha.  
**

* * *

"Asagi-neechan, is this enough berries?" Ai asked the elder hanyou. Even if the two weren't related by blood, Ai addressed all of the half-demons she knew as siblings.

Asagi looked into the basket. Looking up she said, "Wonderful, thanks Ai."

"Are we all done here?" Dai asked, looking bored. He and his twin, Roku, had already finished gathering firewood and were currently watching the other hanyo children doing their chores.

"I think so," Shiori, a bat hanyo, replied. "Shall we get going back to the village?"

The assent came from everyone in the clearing, and they headed toward the village.

* * *

Anzen Village (1) was a small town, built in a valley between two mountains deep in central Japan. You won't find it on any map from any time. This place was protected by a miko named Kanade, one of the Great Priestesses (2), so that the inhabitants would be spared scorn from the outside world. The reason: they were either half-demons or the parents of half-demons. Those from the 'Outside World' (as it was called in the Village) despised half-breeds and those related to them.

Even if the humans and rare demons could accept those from Anzen Village, an organisation called '_Kuroi Tenshi_' would never. They were, after all, called 'Black Angel' for a reason.

_Kuroi Tenshi_ was lead by a man named Naraku, who, despite all his efforts and persuasions, was a hanyo committed to destroying all half-demons. Quite a while ago, some of the fighters of the village, Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Shippou, Sesshoumaru, Kagura, Rin, Jaken, Kohaku, Kikyou, and quite a few others had gone off to stop this organisation. To date, none had returned. But the villagers knew they were alive from the irregular reports coming in from all over Japan.

The aforementioned warriors, commanded by the ancient demon lord Inu no Taisho, or as he preferred to be called, Touga, had become the _Shori Taiyou,_ the White Suns. But it could also be taken as a bit of a pun. 'Taiyou' could also be short for 'Taiyoukai', demon lord, and the leader had white hair in human form and a white pelt in demon form.

* * *

The children were nearing the village when they saw smoke rising from the town.

"What's that?" Moegi wondered allowed, pointing towards the town.

"Maybe a battle or a fire," Roku suggested.

"I hope no one was hurt," Shiori whispered. Her father, Tsukuyomaru, had been killed when she was younger by a _Kuroi Tenshi, _her own grandfather at that, so she was _very_ protective of her mother and her friends' parents. She never wanted to see _anyone_ so sad _ever_ again.

"I highly doubt that," Asagi scoffed, hoping that it truly _wasn't_ a battle. The people of Anzen Village were no fighters, save the Taijiya who had come to the village to stay out of the almost constant demon vs human wars. "Maybe someone forgot to put out a fire and left and the house burned down."

She seemed to want to say something more, but the scene that greeted them at the village stopped her.

The village was gone. Buildings crushed or burned to the ground, and bodies everywhere. Shizu, Izayoi, Kusuri, Shoku, Izumo…. People they had known since birth, all dead.

And over their corpses, were four of the _Kuroi Tenshi_. Four. That was all it had taken to slaughter their village.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? A group of run away half-breeds?" one with blue hair asked his companions.

"Brother Ryura, shall I destroy them?" one with burgundy/red hair asked the leader of the small band.

"No, I will," Ryura said, lifting his weapon. He brought his thunder blade down and unleashed an attack that would surely have killed the kids, if another hanyo hadn't uncovered himself from the rubble.

A severely injured Jinenji had blocked the attacks with his own body.

"Jinenji!" Asagi cried.

"Run…" the horse hanyo managed to say. "Run away…." He was dead.

Ai gasped.

"Come on!" Asagi told the small group.

They ran. Away from the village, their lives, but to their destiny?

* * *

(1) Anzen means safety. 

(2) The Great Priestesses are Midoriko, Kanade, Kikyou and Kagome.

Kuroi Tenshi means Black Angel. Yes, I stole Sensui's (YYH) title/nickname.

I have nothing against the people I killed. I just needed people for the Shitoushin to kill and was too lazy to make up names.

Please, please, _**PLEASE **_review. I'm just a poor authoress with debts to pay off and reviews make me feel better. Honestly, I have many debts… :(


	2. Chapter 2

Wee! The second chappie! A million thanks to both Jazkastar and Ookami Kiba for reviewing! I'm really starting to like this story. Maybe because it's an AU about the Hanyou no Horai, which we never see!

I forgot to mention the pairings! Here they are, but I might not have enough ideas for them all:

Major: InuyashaKagome, SangoMiroku, SesshoumaruKagura, KougaAyame.  
Minor: InutaishoIzayoi, RinKohaku (minimal), and possibly BankotsuJakotsu and SuikotsuKikyou.

I don't know if I'm going to put the Hanyou Children in any pairings...

I is owning what you know as mine.

(Note: this chapter has been re-done!)

* * *

"Asagi no neechan, where are we going?" Ai asked, a couple of days after the Kuroi Tenshi had slaughtered the village.

Asagi looked up from the fire she was building. The others looked at the elder hanyo. Roku, Dai, Shion, Moegi and Shiori were wondering the same thing.

"Maybe Niigata. That's where Touga-sama made base, I think," the aqua-haired girl answered.

The Inu no Taisho, Touga, was Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's father. When he had first heard of the Kuroi Tenshi and their habit of killing hanyo to create purer races, he had brought as many families with at least one half demon in them that he could find and created Anzen village. He had hoped that the village wouldn't be found, but evidently he was wrong. Everyone in Anzen was dead, without even a funeral to mark their passing.

Asagi shuddered as she remembered the scene and drew her knees in closer. Fire and blood everywhere… And the four men standing over the bodies of her loved ones…

Dai, noticing the clouds that appeared over his sister's eyes, got up. He walked over to her and shook her shoulder saying: "Don't think about it!"

"Dai's right," Moegi spoke up. "We shouldn't think about it. We'll get our revenge later. In the meantime, do you even know how to get to Niigata?"

Asagi didn't answer.

"How did I know it would come to this?" Roku asked his twin, reaching inside his shirt and pulling out a map.

"Where did you get that?" Shiori wondered.

Dai shrugged. "Nicked it," he replied simply.

"It's a good thing you did. We could be lost without it!" the white haired bat-hanyo exclaimed.

"Let's see…" Roku said as he unfolded the map. "Where are we?"

Moegi looked at the sky, trying to find her way by the stars.

"Here," she said, pointed to an area between Niigata and Anzen Village after a moment of pause.

"Hmm… It took us about three days to get _here_, and we were running…" Asagi murmured.

"Maybe two more…" Shion whispered.

Asagi nodded. "Let's set off first thing tomorrow. Let's get some rest now."

The others agreed and turned in, each taking a two-hour watch.

* * *

Two days later, Roku and Dai spotted the grey haze and Shiori heard the noise that meant the city wasn't far away.

They stopped to look at the city. It was divided into two, as all cities were these days. To the north were the homes of the demons, the biggest belonging to the Daiyoukai. To the south were the human homes. The two sides were separated by huge skyscrapers and other such work buildings. All of the homes on both sides ranged from miniscule things to huge mansions.

Even if Asagi had heard tell of demon houses the size of mountains in the larger cities like Tokyo and Kyoto, the size of the largest mansion was HUGE.

"Let's go!" Roku and Dai hissed at the same time.

"They're right," Moegi said quietly. "We might stand out on a hill like this. Which building is the base in?"

"Um… I can't tell from up here…" Asagi admitted.

"Let's go looking!" Roku called.

----------------Later----------------

"Find anything?" Asagi asked Roku and Dai after looking around central Niigata for about 12 hours.

"No," the boys admitted.

"You?" the eldest hanyou asked, turning to Shiori, Shion and Moegi. They shook their heads.

"Are you looking for the Shori Taiyo?" a small red dragon-like thing, appearing out of the shadows, asked the group. It was about twenty centimetres in length, red with a slightly pink underbelly, four mahogany horns on the top its head, a sort of cross between a cylinder and a cone for a body and two miniature wings on its back.

"Who are you?!" Asagi asked.

"I'm Souten, and this is my friend, Koryu," said a young girl coming out of the shadows to stand beside the floating Koryu. She looked about the same age as the hanyou kids. Her semi-curly black hair was pulled into two buns on either side of her neck. Her red eyes were the same colour as her earrings and the two small gems on each arm guard. She wore a light blue T-shirt with the kanji 'Ten' for 'Heaven' written on each sleeve.

"Do you work for Touga-sama?" Roku questioned.

"Yeah, but mostly messaging," Souten answered.

"That's what you think," Koryu sighed. The black-haired child chose to ignore that comment.

"How can we know you're telling the truth?" Asagi accused.

Souten glared and pulled out a small pearl on a silver chain from under her shirt. The pearl, though black, emitted a somewhat yellow light.

Asagi let out the breath she'd been holding in. The pearl had been created by the Demon Lord Housenki, an old friend of Touga's. The light the pearl emitted depended on the one who had it. Yellow meant that the holder was a good demon, like Touga, red an evil one, like Touga's old enemy Ryukotsusei, green meant a hanyou with a 'good' demon parent like the hanyou from Anzen village, with purple being evil hanyou like Naraku. There was only one colour for humans: blue.

"Understand?" Souten demanded as she pulled the pearl back.

"Yes. Thank you," Asagi breathed.

They started walking towards one of the bigger buildings.

"Here we are… After only 50 wrong turns…" muttered Koryu.

They were at the back of a large skyscraper. Souten pressed on a button and a female voice spoke.

"Who is it?" Asagi recognised the voice of Saara, a woman who had been forced into becoming a hanyou. Asagi was still a little scared of Saara betraying the Shori Taiyou.

"It's Souten and Koryu, bringing some of the children from Anzen."

"What the password?"

Souten took a deep breath and sang softly.

"_Chichi maia te ta  
Mama rinasai  
Haha marae te ta  
Hito no te aruwa  
Abu kumi tame  
No note amusen  
Abi nohi neruki  
Hunen no naka e  
Hikari to nani te  
Nomori Tamae  
Namori Tamae"_

Saara seemed to consider this for a second and admitted them.

"It won't be long now…" Souten muttered. She and Koryu led them down darken flights of stairs and shadowed halls.

"Here," the Thunder youkai said, pushing open the doors to the base.

The base was a large room – with several others connecting to it – that had a large, paper covered table in the centre and a large computer screen on one of the walls. Several small laptops were around the room, some being used, while others were waiting for someone to use them.

"Ai! Asagi! Roku! Dai! Shion! Moegi! Shiori! What are you doing here?! Is something wrong at the village?!" Touga exclaimed, jumping up from the papers he was looking at the moment the kids had entered the room.

"Something _is_ wrong…" he said when he say their downcast eyes. "What?"

"Touga!" a raven-haired woman said, standing up. "Can't you see these kids need rest? Come here, kids. We'll get you something to eat and then you can tell us what happened."

Kagome was the one closest to the kids. She had black hair down to her shoulder blades and brown eyes. She liked dressing in skirts, particularly minis. It was said that after she had left the village for a while, she had joined the ranks of the Great Priestesses, and at the age only fifteen, the youngest Great Priestess ever.

"Kagome-neechan…" Ai sobbed as she ran into Kagome's green skirt.

Sango, Kagome's best friend, shot a questioning look at Kagome, who nodded. The slayer got up and walked towards a door.

"Sit down," Kagome told the children.

"Where?" Roku demanded. Indeed, if a chair, bench or couch didn't have someone on it, there was stacks of papers, videos, tapes, and other such things.

"They can sit here," Kagura, a wind demon said, getting up from a couch. Kagura was originally one of the Kuroi Tenshi, but failed a mission and was nearly killed by Naraku. At the border to the next life (A/N: almost dead), she was rescued by Sesshoumaru and they seem to have fallen in love.

Kagome nodded her thanks, and motioned the children to sit. They obeyed, if only out of tiredness.

"Wait a minute, Sango will come with food soon…"

As if on cue, the female slayer appeared at the door, carrying a tray of food.

Sango was a girl of sixteen with brown eyes and brown-black hair. She had witnessed the death of her father at the hands of one of Naraku's henchmen. Because of that, she and her brother, Kohaku, decided to fight with Touga.

But what the children were most interested in about her was the food in her hands.

As the children gorged themselves, Sango realised that Miroku hadn't reacted to the hanyou children's entrance, which had roused even the stoic Sesshoumaru.

She walked over to him, to find him watching the computer screen like a demon possessed.

"What 'cha got there?" she asked.

Miroku broke out of his trance and tried to close the Window as quick as possible, but Sango was quicker as she whacked his hand lightly. He retreated it quickly and glanced away, looking meek. She took one look at the screen, and turned one him.

"MIROKU, YOU PERVERT!!!!" Sango screamed as she whacked him. He was looking at, you guessed it, porn, and lots of it.

"Miroku, would you please stop doing that during hours? Especially when there are children near by…" Inutaisho sounded exasperated.

And he should be. Miroku was a perverted monk with soft spot for Sango. He had short black hair tied back in a small ponytail and blue-purple eyes. His family had been cursed by Naraku a long time ago with a Kazaana, a wind tunnel/hell hole in his right hand, that would, eventually, kill him if he did not destroy Naraku. Anyway, he asked every pretty young woman, short (or almost short) of their enemies to bare his children.

"Miroku…" Kagome shook her head sadly. She then turned her attention to the kids, who had finished the (somewhat plain) meal. "Why did you come? Did something happen at the village?"

Ai started to cry softly as Asagi, Roku, Dai and Shiori related what happened to the others. By the time they had finished, everyone looked stricken.

_They should_, Asagi reflected. _They all lost at least one person who was special to them. _

Inutaisho in particular looked broken. He had lost Izayoi… And the village he had sworn to protect. His voice cracked as he spoke.

"It's a terrible loss to all of us…" He couldn't go on.

"Have you had any leads to Naraku?" Asagi said, trying to change the subject.

Touga didn't seem capable of answering, so Kagome, answered.

"Somewhat. We know he's in the eastern half of the country, possibly the Ushitora."

Asagi shivered at the name 'Ushitora'. One of the fiercest gangs lived near a mountain there. The gang, called Shichinintai, were also mercenaries. They had great skill, and it was said their leader was only 17. It was also said that the leader had killed over 1000 men. The number of men they had killed could be surpassed nowhere in Asia, and possibly the world.

"Did you take any causalities?"

The gang looked at each other.

"Yes," this time, it was Sango who spoke. "Well, I didn't see it… Well, Kikyou fell off a cliff…. But we never go to see if she was alive or dead!" she added swiftly. "But I think that would be all. But there is some good news as well. Souten and Koryu. Their, well, Souten's, brothers Hiten and Manten were tricked by Naraku into fighting us, and killed Shippou's father. What happened to them, we don't really know, but Souten came to us for help later on, bringing Koryu with her. Somehow, they ended up staying."

"Is that all that happened?" Moegi asked.

The older people nodded.

"That's just about it…" Ayame answered. Ayame was a red-haired wolf-demon, and Kouga's fiancée. Like most wolves, she despised Kuroi Tenshi for the slaughter of almost an entire wolf tribe awhile back.

"There isn't much to do, unless you like paper work and typing," Miroku said.

"What would you know about it?" Sango demanded, glaring at the monk with burning hatred in her eyes. Miroku flinched, visibly.

"Can we help you defeat Naraku?" Asagi asked. "We-"

Touga broke her off. "Yes. You may. I think we may need you for something."

"We can?!" the gold-eyed young hanyo girl said.

"Yes."

"Come with us," Kagome said, motioning to her, the other half-demons, Sango and Kagura. "We'll get you some better clothes."

It was only then that Asagi realised that her and the other children's clothes were ragged messes.

"Thanks, Kagome no neechan!" Ai said.

"Don't mention it."

After about fifteen minutes to a half-hour, the kids and the other teens came out.

Asagi, instead of the very light brown toga-dress she had worn, now had a shirt of the same colour, but pants of a slightly darker colour. She still had the white pearl necklace with purple claw-like beads that her mother had given her when she was younger.

Dai wore a dark blue shirt and normal jeans. His twin, Roku, wore the same, but a paler shirt.

Shiori, instead of the white ceremonial kimono she was used to, wore a plain white dress.

Moegi wore a pale green T-shirt and a matching skirt. Like Asagi, she wore a necklace she had received at Anzen village, but hers was just a few, white, claw-like beads on a string. The string wasn't thread, but a braid made from her hair and that of her parents.

Ai wore a small, pink dress, with her necklace, a light purple shell with small splinters of bone, while Shion wore a white shirt and white pants.

"Nice," Inuyasha commented. "But if they're going to help us, I think they need to look less like hanyou, and a new pair of clothes won't help."

"You're one to talk," Roku said.

"Your ears probably stand out _so_ much" Dai finished.

Inuyasha said nothing, but scowled, walked over to the unfortunate, cocky hanyou, and delivered a good, hard punch on both of their heads.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome reprimanded. "Sit boy!" Inuyasha crashed to the ground. "Be nice to them! But he is right…"

Seeing that the kids were almost asleep on their feet, she said, "But we'll deal with that tomorrow. Right now, we have to get you to bed."

"Kagome, they can come to my house," Sango offered. "It's just me and Kohaku."

"We'll come to," Kagura said, meaning herself and Sesshoumaru. "We have to pick up Rin, anyway"

Rin was a girl that Sesshoumaru had saved from wild dogs. It was also said that she was the first one to start melting Sesshoumaru's ice-cold heart.

After a 15-minute drive, Sango, Kagome, Kagura, Sesshoumaru and the hanyo children arrived at the Taijiya mansion in the human side of the city.

Kagura and Sesshoumaru stayed in their car while Sango and the others went in.

"Kohaku!" Sango called as she knocked on the door. "It's me!"

The door opened. Both Kohaku and Rin were standing there.

"Hey Aneue!" Kohaku said. "Are you here to pick-up Rin?"

Sango nodded.

"Is Sesshoumaru-sama here to?" Rin asked.

"Yes he is. He and Kagura are waiting in the car," Sango answered. "Do you have your stuff with you, or do you need to pack it?"

Rin lifted up a small bag. Sango nodded. "Go, then."

"See you!" Rin said as she gave Kohaku a swift kiss on the cheek. Kohaku blushed.

"See you," he muttered as the other child departed.

Sango and Kagome laughed.

"Seems they're both not afraid to catch a crush," Kagome laughed.

"Yep!" Sango agreed.

_How can they both laugh at a time like this?_ Asagi thought. _Then again… It might not be smart to stay stuck on this kind of thing forever. Or maybe they're just too tired to mourn._

Sango lead them to a room in the back of the second level and pushed open a door on the right.

"The boys can stay in here. You can go in and sleep right now, if you want." Roku, Dai and Shion did as they were told and fell asleep all most immediately. Sango opened the door to her left. "And you girls can have this room."

Ai, Asagi, Shiori and Moegi went in, chose a bed, and laid down.

"Thanks, Sango," Asagi whispered.

"Don't mention it," was Sango answer, and the last words Asagi heard before she drifted into unconsciousness.

* * *

( is dying from lack of breath ) Here ya're, the longest chapter I ever wrote, 10 pages. If you want someone in this, want someone to drive a certain type of car or something, tell me? I'm open to all ideas. Oh, and that porn stuff was just random-ness that I needed for a bit of MiroSan.

In case you wanted to know, the Japanese song is the Song of Parting, and while it's not really the best, it's good enough for a Japanese person to understand. (I tried it, and my teacher said it was OK.)

Oh, and _**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!**_ Please?


	3. Chapter 3

For Jazkastar, INUGIRL, and HELEN, for reviewing. This chapter's written in Shiori's POV. I think… Be warned, there is an OOC Inutaisho in this chapter.

By the way, Roku is the one with the green hair on the top of his head and orange on the bottom. Dai is the opposite.

I don't own InuYasha, but I do, however, own the 3rd season box set! FEAR ME!!!!!!!!

* * *

"Kagome-no-neechan, Sango-neechan?" Shiori called as she entered the kitchen where the older girl was making breakfast. It was before dawn a week after the slaughter at Anzen Village. 

"Hello, Shiori," Kagome greeted. "Is anyone else awake?"

"I don't - "

"Yeah, we are…" Dai said, looking very sleepy. Roku's head was on his shoulder and was yawning in agreement. Shion was right behind them, rubbing his eyes on his arm.

"We are too," Asagi said, entering the room, Ai clinging to Asagi's dress. Moegi came in right after them, looking the same as ever.

"I'm up," Kohaku called.

"Sit down," Sango said, setting down her coffee and looking up from her newspaper. They obeyed.

"Here," Kagome said, passing around plates of omelette, bowls of miso soup and rice.

After about fifteen minutes of eating, and some of the people being almost too tired to pick up chopsticks correctly, everyone was done.

"Kagome-no-neechan," Shiori asked while doing the dishes with the two teenagers and the other girls. "What are we going to do today? Are we going to get a start against the Kuroi Tenshi?"

The two women paused what they were doing and glanced at each other.

"Well…" Kagome began.

"We should go back to Headquarters and check with Touga," finished Sango. "If he says yes, we'll be able to get help disguising your demonic features. 'Till we get out of a populated area, anyway."

After breakfast and clean-up, Kagome, Sango, Kohaku and the kids piled into Sango's car and drove towards the centre of the city.

At the doors to the base, Sango whispered the same song Souten had done the previous night.

"There you are!" Touga exclaimed upon seeing them. "I was waiting for you!"

Kagome nodded in greeting.

"We're here to ask – " Sango began, but was stopped by a wave of Touga's hand.

"I know. Ayame and Kouga have already gone out," the Daiyoukai said. "You all have permission to go."

"But first we have to make sure these kids don't stand out until we're out of the city," Kagura said, coming up to them.

"Hello, Kagura," Kagome greeted. "Where are the boys?" By 'boys', she meant Inuyasha, Miroku and Sesshoumaru.

"Sesshoumaru was trying to get Inuyasha up to pick up Miroku," the red-eyed woman answered, looking slightly annoyed with her boyfriend's younger brother.

"Ok, we can wait," Sango said. "In the meantime…"

The three women looked at the kids. They nodded to each other. Kagome and Sango went into a room, dragging Ai, Asagi, Shion, Moegi, Roku, Dai and Shiori along with them and leaving Kohaku alone in the room with Touga.

A few minutes after the women and children had disappeared, Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, Shippou and Miroku came in. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru already looked human; hair black and eyes purple. Shippou just had a spell on his tail and ears.

"We late?" Miroku asked.

Touga looked up from his work. "The girls are already here."

"Keh! It's not my fault!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

"On the contrary, little brother," Sesshoumaru said. "It's your fault you can't wake up in the morning."

"Well…. I… I went to bed late last night!" Inuyasha stuttered.

"Oho. And what were you doing?" Miroku said as a grin appeared on his face.

"Nothing you'd be interested in! I was practicing kendo!" the hanyou defended.

"Yeah, right," Shippou said from Miroku's shoulder.

"Father, any new leads?" Sesshoumaru asked, cutting between the other three.

Touga, who had been watching, shook his head. "But Ayame and Kouga just left last night. They can't have found out anything new in-" he checked a clock "- less than twelve hours."

"We're here!" Kagome called, coming out of the room, leading the hanyo kids.

"Wow. That's all I can say. Wow," Miroku said.

The hanyo, instead of their natural hair colour of grey, green, orange, dull yellow, purple and white, all had black hair. They also supported special contact lens-like things on their eyes to hide their natural colours. Their ears were hidden as well. Asagi and Moegi's horns were covered. Kagura's eyes were changed to hazel.

"Whoa, are these really the same brats from the village?" Inuyasha asked the group, messing up Shiori's now raven coloured tresses. The young half-bat shrank away from the teen's clawed hand. "I mean really – " Inuyasha had now time to complete his sentence before he crashed down, glowing with a blue light that radiated from his necklace.

"How do you do that?" Shiori asked timidly.

Kagome smiled. "Knowing Inuyasha, Kikyou gave it to me a while before she died."

"Or, should you say before she fell of a cliff," Miroku added.

Kagome nodded.

"When are you going?" Touga asked. "Need anything?"

Sango glanced at Kagome. "We were thinking of going as soon as we get supplies," the elder of the two girls told the lord.

"Then you'll be going almost immediately," Touga said with a smirk. In answer to the questioning looks, he snapped his fingers. What Shiori had thought of as a wall behind the demon lord turned out to be a curtain. Behind it was a large array of backpacks, water gourds, and various other camping material and other things the Daiyoukai had thought the Shori Taiyo group would need.

"I love being rich…" Touga mused, seeing the teenagers' shocked faces. "It comes in so much use… Hurry, grab the stuff you need and be off! Don't you have a bad guy in need of a punishment?"

"Uh… Yeah!" Inuyasha exclaimed. "I forgot what you can do when you put your mind to it, Oyaji!"

"Is that any way to treat the man who raised you?" Touga asked, grinning. Shiori had been wondering if he was actually mourning Izayoi. Her answer came with that smile. It seemed a bit forced and there was sadness in his gold eyes.

"Thank you, Touga-san." Ai bowed before she took her small pack.

"You're welcome, youngster," the old man replied, turning to the others, he said, "I have extra batteries for your cells and such in there, as well as a couple of changes of clothes and a few other things I thought you might find useful."

"I don't get it, why use all this money on us?" Shiori wondered.

Touga looked at her sadly, then at the others in the group. "Defeat Kuroi Tenshi and Naraku. Save the hanyo of the present and future. Avenge Anzen. Avenge the villagers," he said, the last two phrases almost getting caught in his throat. In an undertone so quiet that even Shiori's bat ears had to strain, he added, "Avenge Izayoi…"

"In another note, Kai and Shinta might be following you, so if you need something call them, and they'll see what they can do," Touga told them.

Shiori swallowed. "So this is goodbye?" she asked softly.

Touga looked at her. "No. We'll meet again."

"So, see you," Inuyasha said quietly.

"Let's go!" Kagome said, turning bravely towards the horizon.

"They're brave," Akashina commented, coming up behind Touga. "They're walking away from all they've known."

"They're strong. They can handle it," the demon lord said.

"I hope so," the woman said as the two watched the group disappearing into the rising sun.

* * *

Done this chapter. Happy? Please tell! Kaze is desperate to hear your opinions! If you know someone who's interested in the hanyou kids, tell them about this!

I hope I was descriptive enough.

_**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!**_


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